The 6-foot-6, 249-pound New York Yankees outfielder launched 59 home runs and totaled 132 RBIs in 2017 en route to the NL MVP award. Stanton had the highest average exit velocity (122.2 mph) of any player in baseball last season. His outrageous lower-body strength is one reason he's able to pulverize pitches so proficiently.

How does he go about building that strength? With crazy drills like this:

That hill is insanely steep, and Stanton is moving a ton of weight against gravity. He has a large dumbbell in both hands and I believe there are weight plates inside that cart. On top of that cart is New York Mets pitcher A.J. Ramos, who weighs roughly 200 pounds, and elite strength coach Ben Bruno, who weighs roughly 180 pounds. So you're probably looking at a minimum of 500 pounds. Pushing that load up a hill from a backpedal position takes some serious horsepower and an absurd amount of quad strength. "Work until you've reached your limit. Then override that & set a new one," Stanton writes in the caption.

Not every athlete will have the equipment or the ability to perform this drill. The Backpedal Sled Pull is a great, safe substitute that will effectively target the quads and hip flexors.

Brandon Hall
- Brandon Hall is an Assistant Content Director for STACK. He graduated from Lafayette College, where he played football and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in English.
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